This invention relates to duplication devices in general and more specifically to flatbed scanner devices.
Scanner devices, such as flatbed scanners, are well-known in the art and produce machine-readable image data signals that are representative of a scanned object, such as a photograph or a page of printed text. In a typical scanner application, the image data signals produced by a flat bed scanner 11 (FIG. 1) may be used by a personal computer (not shown) to reproduce an image of the scanned object on a suitable display device (not shown), such as CRT or a printer.
The typical flatbed scanner 11 will be provided with a scanner housing 13 suitable for holding the various systems and components comprising the flatbed scanner 11. See FIG. 1. The scanner housing 13 may comprise a generally rectangularly shaped structure having a top side 15 and a bottom side 17 that are positioned in a generally parallel, spaced-apart relation to one another. The top side 15 of scanner housing 13 may include a generally rectangularly shaped scanning bed or transparent platen 19 that has a width 25 and a length 27. The scanning bed 19 allows an object positioned adjacent the scanning bed 19 to be scanned by a scanning device (not shown) contained within the housing 13.
The scanner housing 13 may be further provided with a control panel 21 operatively associated with the flatbed scanner 11. A scanner lid 23 may be pivotally attached to the housing 13 via a hinge member 29. The hinge member 29 allows the scanner lid 23 to rotate about a pivot axis 31 between its opened position and its closed position.
The flatbed scanner 11 may further include illumination and optical systems (not shown) positioned within the housing 13 underneath the scanning bed 19. The illumination and optical systems accomplish the scanning of the object. More specifically, the illumination system illuminates a portion of the object (commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cscan regionxe2x80x9d), whereas the optical system collects light reflected by the illuminated scan region and focuses a small area of the illuminated scan region (commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cscan linexe2x80x9d) onto the surface of a photosensitive detector (not shown) positioned within the scanner housing 13. Image data representative of the entire object then may be obtained by sweeping the scan line across the entire object, usually by moving the illumination and optical systems with respect to the object.
By way of example, the illumination system may include a light source (e.g., a fluorescent or incandescent lamp or an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)). The optical system may include a lens and/or mirror assembly to focus the image of the illuminated scan line onto the surface of the detector. Alternatively, a xe2x80x9ccontact image sensorxe2x80x9d (CIS) may be used to collect and focus light from the illuminated scan region on the detector.
The photosensitive detector used to detect the image light focused thereon by the optical system may be a charge-coupled device (CCD), although other devices may be used. A typical CCD may comprise an array of individual cells or xe2x80x9cpixels,xe2x80x9d each of which collects or builds-up an electrical charge in response to exposure to light. Since the quantity of the accumulated electrical charge in any given cell or pixel is related to the intensity and duration of the light exposure, a CCD may be used to detect light and dark spots on an image focused thereon.
Flatbed scanners and the various components thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,572 for NOTEBOOK STYLED SCANNER of Khovaylo, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,041 for OPTICAL SCANNER of David Wayne Boyd; U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,144 for COLOR IMAGER UTILIZING NOVEL TRICHROMATIC BEAM SPLITTER AND PHOTOSENSOR of Kent J. Vincent; U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,268 for COLOR COMBINER AND SEPARATOR AND IMPLEMENTATIONS of Kent J. Vincent and Hans D. Neuman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,028 for OPTICAL SCANNER APERTURE AND LIGHT SOURCE ASSEMBLY of Boyd, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,620 for APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING COMPONENTS OF COLOR OPTICAL SCANNERS of Elder, et al., which are each hereby specifically incorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein.
As personal computers and their peripheral devices continue to decrease in price while increasing in quality, more users find themselves with home computer systems that include scanners and high-quality color printers. Although many of the users have been informed of the ease with which creative tasks can be performed with such high-tech devices, many creative tasks are far too complex for the average user to successfully complete and enjoy. For example, many problems surface when a user wants to creatively combine multiple pieces of media into a collage or scrapbook. When dealing with such creative combinations, extensive computer-based editing of the scanned image is often required that quickly turns a creative endeavor into a tedious task.
As just mentioned, a common use for scanners is to xe2x80x9ccollagexe2x80x9d several items into one cohesive, creative arrangement. With current flatbed scanners 11, the objects to be scanned must be laid upside down on the scanning bed 19, which makes it very difficult and impractical for the user to determine how the resulting collage will look. Typically, the user will place the objects face-down in a certain arrangement on the scanning bed 19. The user will then peel back an edge of each object to check the alignment of that object with respect to the scanning bed 19. The user will next scan the arrangement. Unfortunately, because it is difficult to confirm correct alignment of the objects while looking at the objects upside down, the first scan is often unsatisfactory. Thus, the user is forced to reposition the objects and perform another scan. Although this time-consuming process may eventually yield good results, it usually does so only after several repeated attempts by the user. In the meantime, the user may have wasted considerable time and processing capacity (associated with scanning and displaying the scanned image) before the desired arrangement has been scanned. Such a xe2x80x9cscan, evaluate, reposition, re-scan, re-evaluatexe2x80x9d process often results in the user being completely frustrated and disappointed. Moreover, even if the user is able to successfully position the objects on the scanning bed 19 in the desired arrangement prior to scanning, the closing of the scanner lid 23 may cause the objects to shift from that desired arrangement resulting in an unsatisfactory scan anyway.
Partly in an effort to alleviate the aforementioned problems some users have turned to digital cameras to capture electronic images of the desired arrangements. While such digital cameras allow the user to more easily obtain a scan or photograph of the objects in a desired arrangement since the objects can be arranged face-up, this solution first requires the user to obtain a digital camera, a costly endeavor.
Consequently, a need remains for collage making apparatus for use with scanner apparatus that improves user efficiency, success rate and satisfaction. Ideally, the collage making apparatus would be easy to use and not require any hardware changes. The collage making apparatus should allow the user to observe the arrangement of the objects prior to scanning so that the need to repeatedly scan, evaluate and position the objects to scan the desired layout is eliminated. Finally, the collage making apparatus should minimize the amount of time required for computer-based editing of the scanned image.
Collage making apparatus for assisting in the production of a collage by duplication apparatus may comprise a layout area contained within the collage making apparatus. The layout area accommodates at least one object that is to be contained in the collage. The collage making apparatus is convertible between a layout mode and a duplication mode. During the layout mode, the layout area is observable by a user so that the user may observe an arrangement of the at least one object within the layout area. During the duplication mode, the layout area is reproducible by the duplication apparatus so that the duplication apparatus produces a copy of the arrangement of the at least one object within the layout area.
Also disclosed is a method for making a collage that comprises the steps of: providing a collage making apparatus that defines a layout area; positioning at least one object within the layout area defined by the collage making apparatus; observing an arrangement of the at least one object within the layout area; positioning the collage making apparatus so that the layout area is adjacent a duplicating bed of a duplication apparatus; and operating the duplication apparatus to duplicate the arrangement of the at least one object within the layout area and to produce a copy of the arrangement of the at least one object within the layout area.